Ready-to-wear apparel is typically manufactured in factories which produce large numbers of garments at a time. Bolts of fabric, typically laid out many layers at a time, are cut into pattern pieces, which are then sewn together in an assembly line fashion to produce garments. Although the garments are cut and sewn with the assistance of machines, the process is nevertheless labor-intensive, and includes manual movement of patterns, sewn garments, and operation of sewing machines and other kinds of equipment. Accordingly, many manufacturers prepare garments in low-wage countries to take advantage of lower labor costs for manual labor. While mass production of apparel can maximize throughput and provide significant economies of scale, mass production does not allow for personalization of a garment for a particular consumer beyond the selection of one of a handful of stock sizes. Rather, customers wishing personalized or custom-fit clothing must purchase a garment off-the-rack and then have the garment altered as they wish, or they must employ a tailor for manual production of the item. Both of these options are costly and time-consuming.
As clothing manufacturers are typically located in low-wage countries, there can be a significant period of time from when a buyer places an order to the time that the garments are delivered. Items purchased in bulk quantities are typically shipped by sea, thereby introducing significant delays and variability in the timeliness of delivery. Smaller lots can be shipped by air, although transportation costs then become a significant element of the garment's cost.
Clothing is typically manufactured in a factory in a massively parallel manual manner. That is, each item of equipment used to manufacture clothing is operated by hand, and there are large numbers of identical machines in parallel operation. The manual operation of the manufacturing machines does not require any digital connectivity between them, and the machines are therefore operated in a standalone manner and are not networked to a centralized computer control system for operation. Although certain sewing machines are “computerized” and can accept flash drives or similar devices, the computerization is generally limited to accepting upload of a limited set of infrequently varied machine configuration parameters, and these machines are not networked and cannot be operated remotely.
In addition to mass production in a factory, apparel can also be prepared by hand by custom tailoring, whether at home or commercially by a tailor or seamstress. Custom tailoring generally involves measuring a customer, having a customer choose style, fabric, and fit preferences, sewing the garment, and potentially adjusting the garment's fit during the course of one or more fittings. The resultant garment has a fit and style which is personalized to the customer's preferences, but it is typically costly due to the large amount of manual labor involved preparing the garment and the amount of time required on the part of the customer. Consequently, custom tailoring does not constitute a large segment of the apparel industry.
Current sizing of garments is usually undertaken with reference to body measurements obtained from anthropometric data surveys. For example, in 1939-1940, about 15,000 American women participated in a national survey conducted by the National Bureau of Home Economics. A technician took 59 body measurements of each volunteer, and the results were published in 1941 under the title “Women's Measurements for Garment and Pattern Construction”. Using the data obtained from this study, the U.S. clothing industry developed national clothing sizing standards for women which were widely adopted by apparel manufacturers. Although these standards provide sizing measurements for women of tall, regular, and short heights, most individuals deviate from the mean fit model in body shape or other key dimensions, thereby yielding a suboptimal fit.
Recently, certain manufactures have implemented changes in clothing sizing, termed vanity sizing. As Americans have recently become heavier, these manufacturers have begun selling larger-sized clothing labeled with smaller size numbers, thereby appealing to customers' desires to consider themselves as having a slim body shape. As manufacturers generally do not move in lockstep with regard to changes in vanity sizing, garments having the same nominal size will typically have different fits, making direct sizing comparisons difficult.
Additionally, some customers also prefer garments that are looser or tighter than the ready-to-wear apparel which is available through most retail outlets or from online sellers.
There is, therefore, an unmet demand for methods and systems for economical and rapid automated manufacturing of personalized custom-fit apparel.